If you have already read my previous blog posts, now you know it for sure: if you want to expand your business in Italy, your content needs to be translated from English into Italian by an Italian native linguist. And if you’re dealing with marketing materials, a creative translation into Italian might be just what you need.

In fact, the content of your marketing materials (such as your website, brochures, catalogues, but also your slogans and payoffs) needs to be translated with the right creativity in order to deliver your message in a fresh and engaging way. But what is creative translation into Italian and why is it so important for your business?

Let’s find out together.

What Is Creative Translation?

In many translation fields, adherence to the source text is paramount. For example, in legal and technical translations, there is no margin for error: translators must maintain a certain terminology, no sentences should be cut or lost, and the structure of the original text should be respected in full. In short, the source text is the supreme ruler.

This can apply to editorial translations as well: even if they allow more freedom, these translators are required not to transform the source text in an extravagant way.

On the contrary, creative translation, often called transcreation, doesn’t care for rules or checklists. It’s here to completely twist your content! That is to say, a creative translation into Italian will take off from the original source text and land on a new, different Italian text that will convey the same message, but take into consideration the language, culture, sensitivity, and influences of the Italian market.

Why Use Creative Translation into Italian for your Content Marketing?

Italians tend to enjoy content more when it’s written in their language. This is not simply due to the fact that, despite improving over the years, Italy’s proficiency in English is still one of the lowest in Europe. Another reason is that historically, the majority of foreign terms introduced to Italy were translated when they were imported.

Translation of foreign terms was sometimes carried out by very famous language professionals, such as writers, poets, and so on. For example, the Italian word for sandwich, tramezzino, was coined by Gabriele D’Annunzio, one of Italy’s most important poets in the early 1930’s. It’s a pure form of transcreation because the word tramezzino does not recall in any way the word sandwich, its shape, or origin. Tramezzino comes from the word “tramezzo”, “in-between”, with the addition of the suffix –ino, which in Italian denotes a small size. “Tramezzo” is to be intended as the time between breakfast and lunch, just right to have a snack… such as a small sandwich.

After this very long history of creative translation, in the present day, marketing and advertising material for Italy is always translated, whether it be traditional or new media, and creative translation into Italian is the only way to ensure it’s fully enjoyed by Italians.

Is Creative Translation into Italian Always Needed?

You might be thinking that not every brand would agree to completely modify their payoffs or slogans, as they might identify them as part of their brand.

When it comes to an English payoff, a couple come to mind: Nike’s “Just do it”, and McDonald’s “I’m loving it.”. Universal as they might be, they are not 100% understood by the Italian audience. The verb “loving”, for example, is not easy to translate from English into Italian. “Love” tends to identify romantic love, and so the general idea of “enjoyment” that the McDonald’s payoff is trying to convey gets a bit lost in translation.

Not localizing a message with a creative translation into Italian is a risk not everybody can take. While huge brands like McDonald’s or Nike can get away with an English payoff, it would be a shame to lose direct communication with the Italian audience.

So, if you believe your marketing materials might need a creative translation into Italian to reach your Italian consumers, I might just know the right language professional for you! Creative translation into Italian is one of my strong suits, so write me an email and we can start discussing your new creative project!